


If I Fell

by GinnySocks (ginnysocks)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Dumbledore's Army, Enchanted Mistletoe, F/M, Fairest of the Rare's Sing Me A Rare, Fairest of the Rare's Sing Me a Rare 2020, Fairest of the Rare's Sing Me a Rare 2020 - UK Invasion, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hog's Head Inn (Harry Potter), Rare Pair, Rare Pairings, SMAR - Challenge Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26670508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginnysocks/pseuds/GinnySocks
Summary: In the years since the war ended, Ginny and Seamus had fallen into a cozy friendship. So of course she had to go and screw it all up by catching feelings for the sandy-haired wizard.Winner: Best RomanceWinner: Best FluffRunner Up: Happily Ever After
Relationships: Ginny Weasley/Seamus Finnegan
Comments: 38
Kudos: 42
Collections: Sing Me a Rare: UK Invasion!





	If I Fell

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sing Me a Rare: The UK Invasion.
> 
> **Song Prompt:** "If I Fell" The Beatles  
>  **Character:** Ginny Weasley  
>  **Pairing:** Seamus Finnegan  
>  _Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this creation._

* * *

__

* * *

_If I fell in love with you_  
_Would you promise to be true_  
_And help me understand_  
_'Cause I've been in love before_  
_And I found that love was more_  
_Than just holding hands_

* * *

**Friday, December 21, 2001**

Ginny Weasley slipped through the door of the Hog's Head and pushed it shut behind her before too much of the snow and wind swirling through the evening air could find their way inside. She unwound her scarf, shrugged out of her coat, and banished both to the coat rack before casting a drying charm on her shoes.

Wriggling her thankfully dry toes inside her boots, she stepped up to the bar, smiling at Aberforth, pouring a round of beers for the wizards seated in front of him. The Hog's Head may still look dingy and rundown on the outside, but the inside was cozy and inviting and felt like home to the friends that had gathered here nearly every Friday since the end of the war.

Aberforth appeared in front of her with a bottle firewhiskey which he poured into a shot glass that had appeared on the bar in front of Ginny.

"Thanks, Ab, everyone else upstairs?"

"You're the last tonight, Ms. Weasley. I reckon your lot is good and sauced by now. You'd best go on up before they decide to stumble down here looking for you and disturb my other patrons."

Ginny laughed and grabbed the shot, tossing it back, letting the liquid warm her up from the inside. "Admit it, Ab, you love us."

He muttered something unintelligible under his breath, but his eyes were twinkling when he looked back up at her. Setting the glass back on the bar with a grin, she headed for the back staircase.

Halfway up the stairs, she crossed the permanent sound barrier Aberforth had charmed a few years back, and laughter and music from their weekly get together washed over her.

"Gin! You made it!" Hermione hugged her tight. "How was practice?"

"Bloody freezing. By the time we finished, I could barely feel my face or my fingers."

Theo Nott stepped up behind Hermione, dropping a kiss atop her head, and handed both women a mug of something steaming.

"Cider. With a healthy dose of whisky courtesy of your brothers." He motioned towards the back of the room where Fred and George were hovering around a cauldron at the end of a table covered in platters of food.

Ginny eyed her mug cautiously, raising a brow at the lanky Slytherin. Theo chuckled, "Hermione charmed the cauldron so they can't prank it. They're still trying to figure a way around it."

Hermione blushed, and Theo grinned proudly. Ginny smiled into her drink; back at school, she never would've thought that her best friend and the quiet Slytherin would work well together, but they just fit in a way she never had with Ron.

It hadn't taken long after the dust had settled from the Battle of Hogwarts for Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny to realize that the war had changed them. But while Ron and Hermione ended things before they really even began, Harry and Ginny stayed together out of a stubborn refusal to let Voldemort take anything else from them. It was almost a full year later before they'd finally admitted defeat and ended their relationship.

"Seamus is here somewhere; I saw him talking to Oliver by the bar a bit ago," Theo mentioned casually.

"Oh?" Ginny hummed noncommittally.

"He was looking especially nice tonight. Auror training has been good to him." Hermione added, swatting at Theo when he raised an eyebrow at her.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about," she responded with a practiced air of innocence, steadfastly ignoring the knowing glance Theo and Hermione shared. This same song and dance happened every week. Her friends refused to accept her insistence that there was nothing romantic going on with Seamus. That they were just friends.

Ginny chatted pleasantly with Hermione and Theo for a while before excusing herself to refill her drink. Settling on a stool at the end of the bar, she slowly sipped her drink and let her gaze drift across the room, refusing to admit that she was looking for anyone specific.

Their annual Christmas party was in full swing, and most of the party was, as Aberforth had guessed, well on their way to being sloshed. Strings of lights stretched across the room, bright red bows festooned nearly every surface, and a Christmas tree covered in baubles standing tall in the corner.

Someone had set up a makeshift dance floor in the center of the room, and Luna and Blaise were taking full advantage. The tall Slytherin effortlessly twirled and tossed his fairy-like wife in what Ginny guessed was some form of swing dancing. Luna had coaxed a few others out to join them. Fred and George gamely tried to follow along with their dates but, Ron and Pansy just swayed together gently on the edge of the floor.

Harry caught her eye from the other side of the room where he was standing with his wife, and she raised her glass in greeting. He leaned down and said something in Daphne's ear, pointing in Ginny's direction. She looked up to smile and wave at before returning to her conversation with one of the Patil twins.

This was a far cry from the first few Fridays at the pub when it had been just Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Luna, and Neville. They mostly sat and drank in slightly awkward silence in the upstairs room where Dumbledore's Army had formed. The comfort of simply being there, safe, together, and _alive_ , meant more than any words could say.

The Hog's Head was one of the few places in Wizarding Britain they could go without being accosted by the press or fawned over by good wishers. Aberforth always made sure they had a hearty meal, a steady stream of drinks, complete privacy, and a steady hand to help them back through the floo at the end of the night.

A month or so after their first night at the pub, Dean and Seamus followed Neville in one evening, bought a round for the table, and made themselves at home. Lavender, Parvati, Hannah, and Susan followed a few weeks after that, settling in with quiet smiles, a few muttered apologies, and tentative conversation. By the time Fred and George, Lee, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell had joined them towards the end of summer, the conversation was flowing freely, and laughter was starting to come easier.

Fall brought the start of a new term at Hogwarts. Special permission from McGonagall had granted any returning, of age, students the freedom to come and go into Hogsmeade as they pleased. Being back in the castle with memories of fallen friends around every corner had been difficult, and the escape to the Hog's Head every weekend helped them all heal just a bit more. This freedom brought enough Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and even a few Slytherins that Aberforth had to eventually magically expand the space above the bar.

Around the same time her relationship with Harry had fizzled out, Seamus' relationship with Romilda Vane exploded spectacularly. The two unlikely Gryffindors had started dating after the war, and things got serious fast. Seamus had confided over Friday drinks one week that he was ready to propose, he had the ring already, was just waiting for the right moment. What he wasn't expecting was to come home early from an Auror mission to find her in their bed with Cormac MacLaggen. He stayed away for a few weeks, wallowing in his own misery, before Harry and Dean descended on his flat, forced him to shower, and hauled him down to the pub.

Ginny had recognized the look he'd had in his eye that first night. It mirrored the one she knew was in hers. She and Harry may have parted as amicably as possible, but it had still hurt her deeply. She'd shut down the part of her that thought about love and romance, throwing herself into her quidditch career, putting everything into the game, and staying too busy to date. It might have been lonely, but it kept her from getting hurt.

With all their friends coupled up and neither Ginny nor Seamus looking to date anyone seriously, the two stuck together at parties, weddings, and Friday night drinks. He was her date to all of the quidditch functions, making her laugh and sneaking her drinks she wasn't supposed to have at official functions. She, somewhat reluctantly, even got dressed up and made small talk with a room full of strangers for all the Ministry events he was required to attend as a member of Harry's Auror squad. Two years later, they were the best of friends even though all of their friends were convinced there was something more there.

An arm dropped across her shoulders, and she fought to repress a shiver when a familiar Irish lilt interrupted her reverie, "Knut for yo' thoughts.."

"My thoughts are worth far more than that, Finnegan, and you know it."

Seamus chuckled and grinned, "Not arguing that love, jus a knut is all a've got on me at the mo'."

"Then I suppose you'll just have to live a while longer without knowing all of my innermost thoughts," she teased.

"Oh, I reckon I know most of 'im by now anyway."

She scoffed but didn't correct him. After all, their friendship had been forged in the fire that was the Carrow's reign of terror at Hogwarts, and it's hard to keep secrets from someone who cared for you after you'd been tortured.

Seamus settled his arm firmly against her shoulder, and his hand absentmindedly played with a strand of hair that had fallen out of her messy bun. Ginny closed her eyes and took a deep swig of her Cider, blaming the warmth from the drink for the heat she could feel in her cheeks.

It may have started out as merely two friends helping each other, but Ginny had fallen hard for the Irish wizard somewhere along the way. She couldn't pinpoint precisely when her feelings had morphed from friendship into something else. Still, she knew it was longer than she'd admitted even to herself. She kept a careful distance, though, keeping her feelings locked up tight. Seamus was open and honest about his feelings towards relationships, his pride and his heart had been hurt once. She knew he had no desire to go through that again.

Despite his insistence to the contrary, there were times she swore he felt it too. When his eyes would flash with heat when he looked at her, or his hand would linger on her lower back just a beat longer than was friendly. In those moments, she was tempted to say something, to tell him that she felt it too, but then he'd shake his head, crack a joke, and everything would slot firmly back into the friendship they'd built.

Her eyes flew open when she felt a light touch against her bottom lip.

"Bit of foam, jus there," Seamus held his finger up in explanation. There was a grin on his face, but his eyes were dark and focused on her lips. A heavy tension thrummed between them, and Ginny's skin felt like it was on fire.

He leaned a bit closer, and she sucked in a breath, completely unable to move. Her eyes dropped to his lips, and her hand drifted to rest on his upper thigh.

Ginny opened her mouth, but Dean Thomas was in front of them before she could say anything, hauling Seamus off the stool.

"Sorry, Gin, I need to steal him away, you don't mind, do you? Thanks, love!" He pushed Seamus ahead of him through the crowd, talking a mile a minute about needing help defending Gryffindor's honour against Slytherin in what sounded like some sort of drinking game. Seamus looked back before he was swallowed up by the crowd, and the casual shrug he threw her was at odds with the heat still in his eyes.

"I am going to kill Dean Thomas." A shrill voice startled Ginny, who tore her gaze away from where Seamus had disappeared into the crowd to focus on her sister-in-law who was glaring daggers at the back of the wizard in question.

"We've talked about this, Pansy. You can't just go around threatening someone with murder any time they inconvenience you."

"Tonight is my night in the betting pool, and he knows it!"

Ginny set her mug down on the bar behind her before slowly turning back around and saying with deadly calm, "I'm sorry, the what now?"

Pansy waved off her tone and continued on as if she hadn't said a word, "Harry would've fit right in with the snakes. I'll bet he bribed Dean to help keep Seamus occupied since his money's the two of you making it official on New Year's Eve. And I refuse to lose to Harry Bloody Potter!"

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you that Seamus and I are just friends."

A delicate snort escaped the shorter woman's mouth. "It's no wonder the hat put you in Gryffindor; you'd have made a terrible Slytherin. You have all the subtlety of a rampaging manticore. Honestly, it's written across both your faces anytime you're in the same room, anyone with half a brain can see it."

Ginny sputtered at the witch, "I have no idea what you're talking about." A single look from Pansy was enough to make her snap her mouth shut and look away.

Pansy rolled her eyes, "Tonight was perfect. Ron thought it would've happened at the Ministry's Christmas ball last weekend, but, as much as I love him, he just doesn't have any sense of romance."

"Romance?" Ginny echoed faintly.

"Yes, romance! We all know that you two wouldn't have become as close as you have without our regular Friday night drinks. It's so romantic that this is where you'd finally admit your love for each other."

"Careful Pans, you're starting to sound like Lavender," Ginny warned.

Pansy made a noise of disgust as she waved her hand in the air, "It's all utterly ridiculous to me, but that's you Gryffindors to a tee. If you ask me-"

"Pansy! This was not the plan!" Hemione's voice cut off whatever sharp retort Pansy had on the tip of her tongue.

"I'm a SLYTHERIN Hermione, we do whatever it takes to win. If Ginny needs a little prodding to make her finally see reason, I'm happy to provide it."

"Merlin, not you too, Hermione." She dropped her head to the bar, knocking lightly against it. "Kill me now."

"Of course, Hermione, too, she's on my team," Pansy said proudly, making Ginny groan. If Ron and Pansy getting married had been a shock to everyone, it had nothing on the reaction the strange friendship between Pansy and Hermione had caused. The Wizarding World hadn't known what hit it. With Hermione's brains and Pansy's deviousness, they were almost as formidable of a duo as the twins. Almost.

Ginny raised her head and looked balefully at the women who had quietly materialized around her. "Don't tell me you're all in on this."

Out of all her friends who now stood scrutinizing her, only Hermione had the grace to look slightly guilty. Pansy's expression remained smug while Lavender, Angelina, Katie, and Daphne were a cross between amused and exasperated. Luna reached out to squeeze her hand gently and smiled serenely at her.

"Honestly, none of us expected it to last this long; we've all had to change our predictions more than once," Angelina spoke up, ignoring the glare Ginny threw in her direction. "Fred has a chart," she added helpfully. Next to her, Katie's shoulders shook with silent laughter.

"Of course he does," Ginny said flatly.

"You two are ridiculous, it's bloody obvious that you fancy each other, what we don't understand is why you won't just admit it!" Lavender added.

"We just want to see you happy. The two of you are practically covered in Wrackspurts whenever you're together. It's a good omen." Luna added in a dreamy voice.

Ginny just blinked, "Thanks? I think?"

She glanced at Daphne, "Don't suppose you have anything you'd like to add?"

The blonde witch threw her hands up in surrender, "I'm just here for moral support. And because Harry was too afraid of being hexed to come over himself."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Fine. Now, if you don't mind, practice was long, and I'm exhausted. I think I'm just going to head home." She stood up off the stool and headed towards the stairs without waiting for a response.

Lost in thought and trying to at least get down the stairs before the angry tears she could feel gathering behind her eyes fell, she wasn't watching where she was going and collided right into a broad chest, warm hands grasping her arms to steady her.

"Oof, sorry, Gin." Seamus smiled down at her, eyes dancing with laughter. Of bloody course, she couldn't escape the party without running into him.

She tried to take a step back, put some space in between them so she could say goodnight without looking like a fool, but she found her feet wouldn't move. Tipping her head back, Seamus followed her line of sight to the enchanted mistletoe that conveniently floated right above them.

Seamus swallowed, his throat bobbing, and he looked down at her with an unreadable expression on his face. One hand came up to gently cup the side of her face, holding her steady. Her breath stuck in her throat, and her eyes drifted closed as he lowered his lips to hers.

It started out chaste, just a simple press of his warm lips against hers, but when Ginny gasped at the fire, it ignited in her Seamus took advantage of her mouth opening to deepen the kiss slightly. He banded his other arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him, and she clutched the back of his shirt in her fist.

It wasn't until she registered that the roaring was only in her head, and in fact the entire pub had gone quiet, that she pulled back from the kiss dimly registering the disappointed look on Seamus' face when their lips broke apart.

Seamus jerked out of her grip, leaving her trying to ignore the shakiness in her knees. His eyes were wide, and he ran his hand through his hair, making it stick up at odd angles, looking everywhere but at her.

"I…. I've gotta go", he mumbled before he turned and fled down the stairs, leaving her all alone in the middle of all their friends.

She was going to _kill_ Pansy Weasley and Hermione Nott.

Ginny closed her eyes against their pitying looks and gritted out, "Not. A. Word." She blinked her eyes open and glanced around the room at her friends, "If anyone says anything, I will hit you with a bat bogey hex so hard that you'll be seeing bats for weeks."

Her brother took a tentative step forward, hands outstretched out as if he was approaching a skittish threstral instead of his younger sister. "Ginny-"

"WEEKS, RONALD. WEEKS." With one final glare at the two brunette witches currently trying to hide behind their husbands, she turned on her heel and hurried down the stairs after Seamus.

Ignoring the questioning look from Aberforth, Ginny pushed through the crowd and out the door, shivering when the cold air hit her bare arms. Seamus was already halfway down the path to apparition point, snow swirling around him as he all but ran away.

"Merlin Seamus, am I that bad of a kisser?" She yelled at his back, stamping her foot in frustration.

Seamus halted mid-stride, slowly turning around to face her with an unreadable look on his face. "Bloody hell, woman, are ye that daft?"

"Then why did you just run out of the room like there was a Hungarian Horntail after you? You couldn't get away from me fast enough. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex you right here."

Seamus rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't know what you want me to say here, Gin."

"I want you to tell me why you ran away from me." She took a few steps closer, but he was still looking down at the ground. She reached out and tipped his chin up, so their eyes met.

He blew out a breath, "Look, Gin, I know you don't want a relationship. You've made that perfectly clear. You've not been out on more than two dates with the same bloke for longer than I can remember, and for the last year, you've turned down every single man that's asked you out."

Ginny made a noise of protest, but he cupped his hand over her mouth, "Let me finish. I've started this, and I need to say my piece, then we can go back to how things work and forget it all, okay?" He waited until she nodded before he continued.

"You're my best friend Ginny. Only if you tell Dean I said that, I'll deny it. But somewhere along the way, I went, and bloody well fell in love with you. And I ignored every ounce of Gryffindor courage I possessed and kept it to myself because I couldn't stand the pain of you telling me no. I couldn't bear to hear you tell me that it was all in vain, and I was terrified I'd end up losing you as a friend."

"Seamus-"

He continued on, talking to himself more than her now. "I don't expect you to say anything, and I'll understand if you need some space."

"But-" Ginny tried to break in again.

"And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hide in a bottle of Ogden's and get so good and drunk that I forget any of this happened."

"SEAMUS, YOU BLOODY IDIOT WILL YOU SHUT UP!"

He jerked back in surprise, bringing his gaze up to meet hers once again, a blush staining his cheeks and a sheepish look on his face.

"Merlin, we're both so incredibly thick." And before Seamus could respond, she jumped up into his arms, trusting him to catch her, and crashed her lips to his.

The kiss under the mistletoe had been sweet, but tentative. This kiss was the exact opposite. It was fire and heat, and she couldn't get enough. Ginny poured every feeling she'd held back for the last year into the kiss, and Seamus drank it up. One of his hands came up to tangle in her hair, and she wrapped hers tightly around his neck. The bodies slotted together perfectly, and Ginny let herself get swept away in the thrill of kissing Seamus.

It wasn't under her lungs burned with a need for oxygen that she reluctantly pulled back. Seamus trailed kisses down the side of her face before nuzzling the crook of her neck.

"You know why I haven't said yes to a date in over a year?" she whispered. He pulled back and waited for her to continue. "It was you, you daft idiot. I've been head over heels in love with you for longer than I wanted to admit."

"You're right, we are incredibly thick." He swooped back in for another kiss, this one sweeter than the last, but no less intense. When they finally broke apart, Ginny was breathless, and both of their lips were swollen.

"Everyone is watching us from the window, aren't they?" Ginny breathed against his mouth after sliding down his body to plant her feet back on the ground.

His lips curved into a smirk when, as if on cue, Pansy's smug voice drifted towards them, "Alright, pay up you tossers!"

Seamus rolled his eyes, "Aye, they sure are. Which is why I'm taking you home where I can ravage you properly away from the prying eyes of our sorry excuses for friends."

He cut off her peel of laughter with another kiss before tightening his arms around her and apparating them away, leaving only a swirl of snow where they'd stood just a moment before.

* * *

_If I give my heart to you_  
_I must be sure_  
_From the very start_  
_That you would love me more than her_

_If I trust in you oh please_  
_Don't run and hide_  
_If I love you too oh please_  
_Don't hurt my pride like her_

_'Cause I couldn't stand the pain  
And I would be sad if our new love was in vain_

* * *


End file.
